Clean Eating Oven-Baked, Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

If you are bored with plain old chicken breasts and love Italian food, this is the recipe for you! I had a MAJOR craving for Chicken Parmesan the other night, but of course wasn't interested in making it the "old fashioned" way. I wanted no-dairy, no regular flours and ALL the flavor of the real thing.

Think comfort food all the way here! So... here's the recipe - you won't be disappointed!

Clean Eating Oven-Baked, Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, trimmed
• 3 eggs, yolk and egg white
• 1 c almond flour
• 1/4 c arrowroot flour
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Place eggs in a medium-size bowl and mix as though you are scrambling eggs. Set aside.

2. In a larger bowl, combine flours and spices with a whisk. 

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

4. Individually, dredge chicken breast into the egg bowl and then into the flour mixture, sure to coat the chicken well. Repeat by placing the same chicken breast into the egg mixture again and then into the flour mixture to form a nice "crust."

5. Place on parchment paper covered baking sheet and repeat for each chicken breast. 

6. Bake at 375 degrees F for approximately 40 minutes, or until each chicken breast is thoroughly cooked. 

Top with your favorite clean spaghetti sauce and pair with brown rice noodles, spaghetti squash, or zucchini ribbons!

Buon Appetito!

Pasta Night in Less than 20 Minutes

One of my favorite things when I was little was looking forward to "Food Nights." Not necessarily, a bad thing, creating a night of the week that you have a particular genre of food each week can not only be fun but it can help you prep your meal plan for the week in a snap!

Picture this... it's Thursday and you have run out of your Sunday prep food and you aren't quite sure what you are going to have for dinner. You want a fun meal that the ENTIRE family will enjoy, but you want it to be clean and healthy too. Why not incorporate a pasta night? No... we aren't talking floury pastas with cheese and cream. This is a flavorful, protein-packed brown rice pasta dish that you can make when all you have is 20 minutes. (It doesn't hurt that this tastes like (we say like, because it's better!) a pepper pasta dish at one of those famous chain Italian restaurants *wink, wink*.)

Clean Eating Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Pasta Night in Less Than 20 Minutes!

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil Spray (We recommend using a Misto with your favorite Olive Oil)
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1lb Clean Chicken Sausage, sliced (We used Bilinski's Apple Chardonnay Chicken Sausage)
• Clean Pasta Sauce (We used Mario Batali's Arrabbiata Sauce)
• Brown Rice Pasta (We used  Jovial Organic Brown Rice Spaghetti)

Directions:

1. Spray large sauce pan with olive oil spray and heat over medium heat.

2. Add red and green bell peppers and yellow onion. Saute in pan until peppers begin to soften and onions are almost clear.

3. Add in sliced sausage and saute for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add pasta sauce and reduce heat to low.

5. Prepare pasta as directed.

Servings Size varies depending on your caloric needs of the pasta. However, the pepper/sausage mixture should yield enough 6 servings.

Mets are not available for this recipe as this varies greatly depending on ingredients used.

Clean, Gluten-Free Cauliflower "Cheesy" Bread

Remember what you used to eat before you started to eat clean? Perhaps you ordered delivery and included some of those cheesy, almost gooey, bread sticks. Well... never fear! If you loved the Clean Cauliflower Pizza Crust that we posted a few weeks ago, you will LOVE this! The recipe is adapted from that very same one!

Clean, Gluten-Free Cauliflower "Cheesy" Bread

adapted from the Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe on The Lucky Penny Blog

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of cauliflower or 4 cups of cauliflower florets, stems removed. 
• 2 TBSP gluten-free ground flax seed
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp dried basil (additionally crushed between your fingers)
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano (additionally crushed between your fingers)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup organic, shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/4 cup, ground chia seeds
• 1 egg

Directions:

1. Wash and dry your cauliflower. Pat dry to remove any additional liquid. Cut the cauliflower into florets (the top part) and remove the majority of the stem.

2. Pulse in a food processor for approximately 30 seconds until you create something resembling cauliflower snow. This will serve as your "flour" for the recipe. It should yield from 2-3 cups of "snow."

3. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4 minutes.

4. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. 

5. Once your cauliflower has cooled (it will be a few minutes), place it in a tea towel and wring it out to remove excess water. Watch out - there will be a lot of water! You will want to do this over the sink!

6. In a bowl, combine cauliflower, spices, and 1/8c of cheese. Add egg and combine using your hands. (You will not need a "dough ball" as in the pizza crust recipe - you will be making a large square or rectangle with this.)

7. Place dough onto a piece of parchment paper sprayed with olive oil. Place dough and parchment paper into an 8"x8" baking dish. Spread and form dough into a large, even square approximately 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick.

8. Lightly sprinkle dough with remaining 1/8 cup of cheese. 

9. Bake in oven for approximately 12 minutes until cauliflower and cheese is a light golden brown.

10. Let bread sit for approximately 3-4 minutes after removing from oven. Cut into 8 equal pieces. Enjoy with marinara sauce to dip or plain!

These are delicious! Jim and I had pizza night one night and I just came up with this recipe. It was really great to have a finger food that we could dip into marinara sauce - a nice healthy throwback to foods we used to eat, but no guilt!

*Marinara Sauce shown is Mario Batali Arrabbiata Sauce - it's clean!